The All Progressives Congress, APC, in Osun State has asked the state governor, Ademola Adeleke, to reverse the appointment of Hashim Abioye as the Chairman of Osun State Independent Electoral Commission, OSSIEC, without further delay.
Abioye, alleged to be a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in the state, was before the recent appointment Adeleke’s Special Adviser on Legal Matters.
The appointment was earlier rejected by the Inter Party Advisory Council, IPAC, Osun State chapter.
Osun IPAC, in rejecting the appointment, maintained that it is a desecration of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
IPAC also added that with Abioye heading OSSIEC, the body cannot conduct a credible election in the state.
Commenting on the development, the Osun APC chairman, Tajudeen Lawal, in a statement in Osogbo on Monday, demanded the reversal of the appointment.
Parts of the statement read, “With the appointment of one of the Adeleke appointees as the OSSIEC chairman, there is nothing that will be independent in the activities of the commission except its nomenclature.
“The appointment of Abioye as the OSSIEC chairman pointed to the fact that those who advise Adeleke have so many questions to answer on political propriety, morality and fair play.
“The appointment of Adeleke’s SA as the chairman of the OSSIEC has bastardized the statutory purpose of the commission.
“It is necessary for Adeleke to allow the OSSIEC to act its name as what is now transpiring in the commission is an aberration which is visibly antithetical to genuine constitutional government.
“The sensitivity of the expected functions of the OSSIEC demands that it is headed by a non-partisan entity whose activities would not be subjected to controversial political caprices and undertones.
“With the appointment of one of the Adeleke’s lap dogs as the chairman of the OSSIEC, it’s bye-bye to democracy at the local government level in the state.”
